Yarn-treating mechanism for winding machines



- March 23 1926, 7 1,578,241

J. A. JOHNSON v YARN TREATING MECHANISM FOR WINDING MACHINES Filed August 6, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 23 1926.

J. A. JOHNSON YARN TREATING MECHANISM FOR WINDING MACHINES Filed August 6, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mme/q Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. -TOHNSON, OF DANVILLE, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO DANV'ILLE CONDITION- ING MACHINE COMPANY, OF DANVILLE, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

YARN-TREATING MECHANISM FOR WINDING MACHINES.

Application filed August 6, 1921. Serial No. 490,253.

This invention relates to the conditioning or treating of yarn prior .to its being wound upona cone for use in knitting, and particularly to means for supplying moisture 'to the yarn or conditioning it, as. it is called.

In the ordinary conditioning of yarn, the yarn is wound upon the usual paper cone and then these cones are placed within a conditioning room where they are submitted to. the action of moisture, the room being filled with a very fine spray or vapor from suitable spraying devices. This in theory moistens the yarn so that it-setsthe twist .and prevents kinking, but one of the objections to this method of conditioning the yarn is that it is necessary that the outside layers of the yarn on a cone be moistened beyond the proper percentage in order that K the inside layers of yarn on the cone shall" have the proper percentage, or else the outside layers of yarn will have the proper 1 percentage of moisture and the inside-layers will not have the proper percentage of mois ture.

The object of the present invention is to do away with this method of conditioning yarn and do away with the conditioning room by the provision of means whereby the yarn is moistened as it is being wound upon the cone, and further to so constiuct the moistening means that a uniform amount of moisture willbe applied to all the yarn so that the inner layers of the yarn after it is Wound upon the cone will have just. as much moisture and no more than the outer layers. This prevents the mildewing of the outer layers, which mildewing comes from the outer layers having too great an,

amount of moisture.

A further object is to provide a mecha 'nism' of this kind which may be also used .for the purpose of dyeing the yarn for the production of a yarn which has a tint as shaft therein;

. stance a gray yarn.

.A still further object is to provide means whereby the amount of moisture which is distributed to the yarn may be readily controlled.

Another object is to provide a mechanism of this sort in which the yarn passes over a roller which travels through a tank of llquid, this roller being so formed as to carry a film of liquid up with it and into contact with the yarn.

And another object is to provide means whereby this roller may be given a step by step rotation.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a section of my moistening device showing diagrammatically the spools or quills from which the yarn is being drawn and the paper cones upon' which the yarn is being wound;

Figure 2, is an end elevation of my device, showing the means whereby the shaft is' given a step by'step rotation and the means whereby the water is supplied to the tan Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 1 and illustrating one of the moistening rolls and a portion of the spool or quill from which the yarn is being drawn and one of the receiving cones;

. Figure 4 is an elevation of one end of the moistening shaft showing the means whereby it is operated;

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the tank, showing Figure 6 is an elevation of'one wall of the-tank, showing the means for holding the thread or tenin roller;

Th1s invention is .intended to be applied to an ordinary form of winding machine in use in mills where cotton is prepared for knitting purposes, and inasmuch as this machine is well known and forms no part of my invention, I have merely illustrated the :machine diagrammaticallyr This machine embodies-a plurality of,spindles, upon which the spools or quills are mounted, these the means forsupporting the yarn in contact with the moisu quills being designated A, and a plurality guide 6 associated with each cone through which the yarn passes and by which the thread is guidedupon the cone.

The object of my invention is to moisten each thread or yarn between the quill .A and the cone B, and to this end I extend longitudinally of the winding machine atank 10 which is illustrated as of iron but may be made of any suitable material and is of any suitable depth and cross sectional area. This tank is mounted in brackets 11 which embrace the tank, the tank being which tube is preferably of copper and disheld in place within these brackets by means of set screws 12 or any other suitable means, each bracket being provided with a foot l3 through which a" bolt passes to hold it to a suitable support. This tank extends along the entire length of'the machine and may be made in several sections if desired.

Extending longitudinally through the tank or through each section of the tank is a shaft. 14 which is mounted within suitable bearings within the tank so that the shaft will not sag, and at one end carries means whereby the. shaft may be given rotation.

Mounted at intervals along this shaft are moistening rollers 15, these rollers being made of brass or any other suitable material,

and are preferably tapered for a purpose to be later stated. Preferably these rollers are formed with. longitudinally extending recesses upon the outer face, designated-16, these recesses acting like buckets and being ratchet-shaped so that as the roller rotates 1n the direction of the arrow in Figure 3,

I the buckets will carry water up from the tank and distribute it against the yarn which-passes over the top of the correspondlngroller. Preferably these rollers are taperedto more or less conform to the taper of the cones B. 1

The shaft 14 at one end is provided with a. ratchet wheel 17, andjcoacting with this ratchet wheel to give a step by step rota- V :tion to the rollers isan arm 18 which is pivoted upon the axial center of the shaft 14, th1s arm being provided with a plurality of openings 19, and pivotally mounted on a.-p1n 20extending into any one of these openings is afpawl 21, the tooth. of which engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17. The pawl isweighted at its opposite end so that the tooth is always held in engage- =ment with the teeth on the ratchet wheel.

In the winding machine which has been referredto, there is, a stop motion shaft des ignated C which oscillates through a certain angular distance, and in order to oscillate the arm 18 I mount upon this shaft C an arm 22, this arm being held to the shaft C v by means of a set screw 23 and this arm justing the pin 24in. any one of the open:

ings 19, a greater or less movement of the ratchet wheel may be secured.

For the purpose of keeping the tank 10 constantly filled with water or other liquid, I may provide any suitable means, but I have illustrated a water container or reservoir '25, from which a tube 26 leads,

charges into one end of the reservoir. This reservoir is mounted in a suitable support 27 above the end of the tank so that the water in the tank is kept at a constant level sufiicient so that the rollers 15 will be partially submerged.

I have heretofore alluded to the fact thatthe shaft14 is mounted in suitable bearings. Preferably these bearings will be in the form'of arms 28 pivoted upon brackets. 29

projecting from the rear wall of thetank so that the shaft 14 and its rollers 15 may be lifted bodily out of the tank .to permit the tank to be cleaned and to permit the rollers to be cleaned. Preferably one end ofthe tank is provided with a drainage cook 30 whereby the'tank may be drained. Preferably also the shaft 14 will be in sections, as illustrated in Figure 1, where -I have a section .2. These sections are joined,, as illustrated, by' -forn1ing'one of the sections, as for instance the section fl pwith a tongue 31 extending into a recess in the end ofthe next adjacent section, this recess extending to the surface of the shaft so thatone secshown a short section ac, a section 3 ,-an'd tion may be lifted out without lifting outthe other section ofthe shaft.

If the yarn extended at a true tangent to the surface. or periphery'of theroller 15, it

would only touch this roller at one point and its shaft with the roller would be relatively small so that it would take up only a relativelysmall amount of moisture from the roller. In order to cause the yarn to take upa greater amount of moisture, it-is necessary to provide means whereby the yarn may be forcedv into contact with the periphery of the roller over a relatively considerable surface. To this end I mount upon one wall of the tank and in associationfwiith each .roller .15 a finger 32 which has itsfuppcr and under faces extending ap- 'proximatelyparallel to [the upper edge of the wall and therefore approximately par.

' inner face 35 of this finger there 'is formed a lip 36 which constitutes a stop and the yarn normally slides back and forth between "the lip or stop 36 and the inner edge of the angular end 33 of the finger. lVhen the yarn 1S first placed upon the machine or in case of splicing of the yarn, the yarn extends over the upper edge of the finger, but as the yarn travels toward the right; in

Figure 6, it reaches the end of the finger and on its return the beveled edge 34 catches the yarn and guides itdQWnWard until it passes the stop 36 and is beneath the finger,

and travels along the edge 35. This edge is rounded so as not to abrade'the yarn. When the yarn travels under the edge 35 it is caused to conform to the surface of the roller 15 for a certain distance so that it will come in full contact with the roller. Thus as the roller 15 is given a step by step rotation, it will carry water upward and bring it in contact with the yarn so that the twist of the yarn becomes set.

As before stated, the face of the roller is preferably formed with longitudinally extending recesses forming buckets, as they might be termed, which act to lift a certain amount of water-up on the roller and carry the water around so that the yarn is fully moistened. It will be obvious that by decreasing the speed of the roller a less amount of water will be carried to the yarn and that by increasing the speed of the roller 15 a greater amount of water will be carried to the yarn. It will further be obvious that if the finger 32 be vertically adjustable, as by the screws 37, the amount of contact between t-he'yarn and the face of the roller will be controlled. I

Because of the conical shape of the tapered cone on which the yarn is received, the speed of the yarn travelingover the roller 15 varies, depending upon its point of contact with the winding cone B. Thus if the yarn is being wound upon the small portion of the cone it will have a lower speed than if it is being wound upon the large portion of the cone. Now if the rollers 15 were uniform in diameter, they would give the same amount of water to the thread whether the thread were moving at a rela tively rapid speed or atfa relatively slow speed. Thus portions of the thread would secure more water than other portions. I therefore form these rollers 15 conical or in the form of a frustum of a cone so that when the yarn is being wound over the small portion of the cone B it will be passing over the small portion of the conical roller 15, and when the yarn is being wound around the large. portion of the cone B the yarn will be passing over the large portion of the roller and will receive more water. In other words, it will come in contact with the roller for a greater length of time or for a greater distance than when the yarn is passing over the small portion of the cone.

l/Vhilo I have heretofore referred to this mechanism as being used primarily for the purpose of moistening the yarn or thread so as to prevent the yarn or thread from kinking and for the purpose of setting the twist, I do not wish to be limited to this use inasmuch as the device may bealso used for dyeing the yarn. Thus, for instance, if it be desired to produce a gray yarn the tank is filled. with a black dye and this black dye applied by the rollers to the white yarn causes the yarn to have a gray effect. I

have used black dye as an illustration, but; it will be understood that the dye might be red, blue, or any other color, but the resulting yarn, would have a tint formed by applying the colored dye to a White yarn; Heretofore in forming a gray yarn it has been necessary to take a certain amount of .black cotton and a cor tain amount of white cotton and mix them so as to form a gray yarn. By this device, however, it is aneasy matter to control the tone of the yarn and secure these colored yarns as they are being wound winding cone.

I do not wish to be limited to a step by stey mechanism for the purpose of rotating the shaft 14: and rollers 15, as means may be provided where by the rollers may be. given a continuous rotation, but I have found in practice that a step by step mechanism of the character described is much less expensive to install and yet is thoroughly effective for the pur ose, as the stop motion shaft previously escribed affords means whereby a step by step motion may be readily operated. My mechanism does away with the conditioning room and eliminates the necessity of leaving the cones in the conditioning room for some twenty-four hours in order to secure the proper degree of moisture in the yarn. Furthermore, theyarn is more uniformly moistened and all danger of overwetting the surface of the wound cone of yarn-is eliminated, thus preventing the yarn from mildewing. Further, my means permits oil to be applied to the yarn, if desired,

upon the either with or without water, and permits I or thread is by that means I reduce'the weight of the shaft 14, which would have to be relatively heavy did it constitute one lon roller extendin the full length of the mac ine. These rol ers 15 dip directly into the water in the tank. I have found in practice that if a dry roller is us d whereby Water is carried from the tank a d then applied to the roller 15, the roller 15 does not receive suflicient water and moisten the thread properly. It will-be obvious that by changing the speed of the shaft 14 that various percentages of the water may be readily applied to the yarn and that the same result might be secured by adjusting the finger 32 to cause the yarn to contact with the roller 15 to a greater or less extent.-

Once thethread has passed beneath the I finger 32, it will be guided back and forth beneath the finger and held from passing off the finger by the angular end 33 and by the stop 36. v

I do not Wish to be limited to the exact form of mechanismillustrated, as it is .obvious that these might be changed in many ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1. In a yarn treating tank, a roller mount ed therein, the tank being adapted to hold water and the roller being partially sub merged in the tank, means for guiding yarn 'over' and in contact with the roller, and

means for rotating the roller, the roller being formed with a series of longitudinally extending liquid holding recesses, each of these recesses having a radially extending Wall and a wall inclined from the inner end of the' radial wall of the outer face of the 'roller and in the direction of rotation of the roller.

. ('35 ed upon theshaft' dipping into the liquid 2. A yarn treating mechanism including an elongated tank, a'shaft passing through the tank, a series of rollers spaced from each other and mounted upon the shaft and projecting above the tank, the tank being adapted to hold liquid, the rollers dipping into said liquid,\a seriespf brackets pivoted upon the tank and supporting said shaft whereby the shaft and rollers may be lifted out of the tank, and means for causing the yarn to travel over the faces of and against ing a quill from which the yarn is adapted to be discharged, and a winding cone upon which the yarn is received, a moistening roller disposed between the quill and the winding cone, the roller being tapered to correspond to the taper of the cone.

5. In a cotton-yarn winding machine having a quill from which the yarn is adapted to be ischarged, and a Winding cone upon which the yarn is received, a tank adapted to contain liquid and disposed between the quill and the winding1c0ne,-and a roller dis posed within the tank and projecting above the same and dipping into the liquid therein, with the periphery of which said yarn contacts, the roller being tapered in approximate conformity to the taper of the cone.

6. In a cotton yarn. Winding machine having a quill from which the yarn is discharged and a winding cone upon which the yarn is received, and means associated with the cone for causing the yarn to travel back and forth upon the cone, means for moistening the yarn comprising a tank disposed between the quill and the cone, and a roller disposed Within the tank and dipping into the liquid thereof and with the periphery of which the yarn contacts, the roller being tapered to conform to the taper of the cone. 7. A yarn treat-ing mechanism including an elongated tank, a shaft extending longitudinally through the tank and formed with a 'series of sections, the sections having detachable rotative engagement with each other, means supporting each section for rotative movement within the tank but permitting the removal from the tank ofv each section independently of any other section, and a series of rollers spaced from each other and mounted upon, the shaft sections, the tank being adapted to hold liquid and he rollers dipping into said liquid, and means for causing a series of yarn threads to pass over said rollers and come in contact therewith.

8-. A yarn treating mechanism including an elongated tank, a shaft passing. through the tank, a series ofrollers spaced from each other and mounted upon the shaft, the tank being adapted to hold liquid, the rollers dipping into said liquid, means for causing a series of yarn threadsto pass over said rollers and come in contact therewith, the

shaft being formed in sections and each 'seetank, said means permitting the lifting of tion having at one end a diametrically exany of the sections from the tank indetending groove and at the other end a pendently of any other section. 19 tongue adapted to fit into said groove where- In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my 5 by the sections have detachable rotative ensignature. I

gagement, and means for rotatively supporting -each of said sections Within the JAMES A. JOHNSON. 

